St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-11-26

manu- Do ii lic lldl Important news 10
communicate.
"IVe seen her." he said, breathlcssly.
"Shc's been to Crumbcrs house, and he
hain't there, cause I've been there, too.
Shes took the valley trail to Tom Bal
lard's, expect, to see if Tom knows
where his master is
"lf | get TO him first | will kill him"
said Bill Miller
More than an hour passed. Every trail
pore wagons or riders speeding toward
LORD Burlelgh's new house, which was so
| grandly Illuminated with Kerosene Iamns
| tllat 1t cleaned Ikea lantern, a centre Of
| light in vast circle Of black prairie,
| There were no other lights. excrut in a
| house here and there, two. three or five
miles apart. There were no stars, for
| the sky was heavily clouurI. Lord Bur
| leigh's house was crowded, so far AS Tive
| parlOr floor was Concerned, very soon
alter dark, and every one of inheritance
in all the country round. EXCEPT the
riders in Niller's band and The counln they
were atter,wa in the assembly. Suddenly
| there was a roar Of wind coming with
| such force against the house that the
| building tremblcd and Jets Of cold air
| filtered through every joint in the frame
| work. Quite as suddenly every window
| pane was coated with snow. Every man
| in the house knew what that meant and
| every face DetOkened alarm 4 snow
squall had burst upon the prairie, and
while 1t lasted no man out Of doors could
make headWay against it or see his hand
before him. Horses have been known to
find their ways to their homes in these
squalls, but Tor every such feat a dozen
have been lost and frozen to death with
their riders dead behind them.
Twenty minutes passed and the front
door flew open admitting cloud of snow
and a man with bIHnrhed face. 1t was
Nike Duggald. "COmc' he shouted, "fOr
Heaven : sake scatter around the house
and tlnd Bill Miller and the rest of our
party. There twelve Of US within pis-
tol shot. We were hunting Niller's gal
and that scOundrel CTumber, but the
squall came and We were lost within
sight of these lights
Fur caps and coats were hurried on,
galOshes were buckIed tight and almost
every man prepared to dash into the an
cry storm. But one man distanCed all
the rest Tie seemed to fall from an up
per story, down the stairs and out Of the
door. On the Threshold be called the
name Sarah" and every gust of wind
carried that name back to the rest as he
ran-fainter and fainter each time
Each man looked at the other. "Who
was that ?" each one esked No one
could answer. The figure was mutfied
to the eyes. in another minute the
house was all but deserted.
The storm ragged for an hour, but long
before 1t was over the men of Bill Mil
lers vigilance party were safe in the
young lords olse warming themselves
by close neighb rhOod to the stoves and
certain bottles that were there. Their
horses were whnnying and neighing in
safety in the lee of the house The one
subject among the men was the hardness
OF Lord Burleigh, who was said to be up
stairs dre> sing, but who had certainly
been there two hours. Miss Sarah and
Crumber appeared to be forgotten. Then
the wind subsidized and the snow ceased
to fall m at nearly the same time
the front door yielded once again to a
newcomers push. 1t was Tom Ballard
1--WE found your gal, Bill. Miller" said
he. Shell be in directly. Lord Bur
leigh deserves the credit, though, for he
found er in my hut as safe as nut and
as warm as toast. Here he is. Three
cheers for his lordship'
Every man looked at the door and then
at his neighbor, for in the doorway ap-
peared Reginald Crumbcr and his sweet
heart. He shut the door, as if to smut his
lord>lip out. At least so it seemed to
the assembly. Then he stepped to the
middle of the parlor floor
II need no introduction to anyone
here" said he; but YOU need one to me-
My name is leirh-Rerinald Crumber
BuAleigh. The rest Of it and my titles
you'll lind in the 'Peerage ,"
To say that all except Tom Ballard
were astonished is to put the matter
mildly. All were amazed.
This is the future Lady Burleigh, who
will wed me tonight" he continued,
when the rector comes down from up
stairs. Call him, please, Tom. And this /
is nv father-in-law William Miller, |
whether he likes it or no, though l sus-
pect when | apologize to him, as | now
do, for deceiving and worrying him, he
will never find fault with me again. | /
must apologize to my lady here, also, for
until five minutes ago she did not know /
my full name or my title
"Hoorah! Hoorah for Lord Bur |
leighI' The cries were stentorian and /
from nearly every one present in unison.
Il could not have learned your ways |
or half that | needed to know, friends
the young lord continued had | come
here as an earl. | could not have wooed |
or won her ladyship had | come as an
earl She would not have had me. AS
it is | have not only noble wife, but a
valuable knowledge of yourselves and
your country. have experimental for
two years with every cereal, small fruit
and vegetable until | know more than
the government itself about what will
grow here and what will fail-far more
than you who must by force grow only
what you are certain of-the wheat,
which will show you is not the best or
only thing to SOW by long odds. But of
all such dreary talk we have had enough.
Make merry and gay friends, for this is
William Millers best Thanksgiving Day,
a holiday we must never forget"
JULIAN RALpH.
INEJIJ EnJTNnFD NO DYNASTY